hickory creek middle school october 2020 newsletter · hickory creek newsletter 2020 volume 2...

Hickory Creek Newsletter 2020 Volume 2

Hickory Creek Middle School

October 2020 Newsletter

Dear Families,

Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of

you for your continued support of our staff, programs and success of our school.

We have weathered the turbulence of the most unusual start of a school year

that any of us have experienced and we have come out stronger than before! We

look forward to the month of October. We will be welcoming in-person learners

and remote learners at the same time. Regardless of the learning pathway that

your child has chosen, they will be interacting with the same curriculum,

instruction and standards of excellence that we have all come to know. Our

phone lines and emails are always open, please do not hesitate to contact any of

us with questions, concerns and most importantly, celebrations.

Sincerely,

Tricia Dotson Jason Crockett Paula Paymaster

Principal Assistant Principal Assistant Principal


August/September Highlights


We are extremely proud of our Hickory Creek

Middle School Physical Education department

for earning the Blue Ribbon Award of

Excellence. This award is granted by the Illinois

Association for Health, Physical Education,

Recreation and Dance. The criteria used to

evaluate our program was: curriculum,

instruction, facilities, equipment and financing

and medical/ safety precautions.

By earning this recognition, our program will

be showcased in one of the IAHPRD journals

and we will reserve this status for five years.

HCMS PE DEPARTMENT EARNS BLUE RIBBON AWARD

NOTES FROM SIXTH GRADE

WE WERE THRILLED TO MEET OUR 6TH GRADERS AT THE SUPPLY-PICK UP IN AUGUST

AND OFFICIALLY WELCOME THEM TO HICKORY CREEK! WE KNOW THAT

TRANSITIONING TO MIDDLE SCHOOL CAN BE A CHALLENGE (ESPECIALLY FOR THIS

2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR), BUT WE HAVE BEEN SO IMPRESSED BY THEIR POSITIVITY

AND COMMITMENT TO MAKING THIS A FANTASTIC YEAR! OUR 6TH GRADERS HAVE

QUICKLY ADAPTED TO THEIR DAILY CLASS SCHEDULES AND THE OVERALL FASTER

PACE OF EACH CONTENT AREA. WE LOOK FORWARD TO CELEBRATING ALL OF YOUR

SUCCESS THIS YEAR, 6TH GRADE!


NOTES FROM SEVENTH GRADE

NOTES FROM EIGHTH GRADE

It's been a wonderful start to this 7th grade year with the 'cards we

have been dealt'. Students have been motivated, engaged, and

stepping up with being responsible during these unprecedented times.

"Stay Gold' has been the motto from ELA classes having read The

Outsiders this first quarter. We will continue to learn from one another

and grow from the lessons we all are learning during this unique school

year. Students thank you, parents 'thank you' for your support at home,

and we look forward to a great rest of the school year with students in

person and remote learning.

As an 8th grade team we embrace the role of giving your student the

tools and instruction to not only have a strong end to their middle

school experience but also prepare them for success in High School. We

expect quality work for our students and challenge them to rise to the

occasion. We would like to see more 8th grade students advocate for

themselves and check their progress in our classes. Please encourage

your student to check Power School using the website or smartphone

app. We look forward to the school year and continuing to learn more

about our students. This year has many instructional/ learning

challenges but we are committed to working as hard as we can to make

it a great 8th grade year and prepare all students for success in High

School and beyond.


NOTES FROM ENCORE

NOTES FROM PE/HEALTH

Spanish - Our students have done a great job with our transition to Remote

Learning! We have enjoyed meeting our 6th graders and welcoming them to HCMS; it's also been great to see our returning students in 7th and 8th grade, and to meet our new ones! Please remember to study your vocabulary each night, and above all: work hard and be kind!

STEM- 6th graders did a great job using Tinkercad to design pencil cases and

treasure chests. Their designs will be printed and brought home soon! They also used Tynker.com to learn different computer programming languages. We will explore WeVideo and film editing next! 7th and 8th graders have been hard at work with their individual Makerspace goals. Students have created great projects with Tinkercad.com, Tynker.com, WeVideo, and Cricut.

Remote Physical Education has opened the year off introducing our students to the Health & Skills Related Components of Fitness. Within these units, students have been able to identify their personal fitness levels and set long/short term SMART goals. The PE & Health Department highly encourages physical activity throughout the day especially during these unprecedented remote learning school days. We look forward to moving to in-person learning and see all the student daily on October 5th!


6th Grade : Students need friendships and social connections with peers to be happy

and successful. Students with friends have a more positive attitude toward school,

have better relationships with teachers, are more engaged in class, and have

greater school success.

7th Grade: Students who develop empathy and perspective-taking skills are less

likely to be aggressive and more likely to help others. They are also more able to

negotiate challenging situations when pressured to engage in unhealthy choices. In

this lesson, students practice trying to understand the perspectives of other

people, including someone they disagree with. Students can work more

successfully in groups and collaborate on projects in the classroom if they know

how to communicate about differences in a respectful way.

8th Grade: Being an ally is one way students can help others, including younger

students, even if they are not friends with those they assist. By thinking of ways to

promote success of sixth graders in their school, students explore strategies to

show responsible leadership and support others.

Remote Learning begins on October 5th for those who have chosen

that pathway for learning.

All remote students have been invited by their remote teachers to

join a new class Teams.

Individual schedules were emailed out to families earlier this week.

If you have any questions about remote learning, please reach out

to your child’s remote teacher/teachers.

Here is an introductory video or our new remote teachers.

Social Emotional Learning at Hickory Creek

Meet our Remote ELA and Math Teaching Team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCc88HRSqCM&feature=youtu.be


A Note From Nurse Laura…..

On balmy, late summer afternoons inside many family’s

doctor’s offices across the nation, kids are dressed in

summer clothing, sporting sun-kissed cheeks and are

rolling up their t-shirt sleeves to ready themselves for

their annual flu shots. “Why are we getting our flu shots

so early?”, they ask. “Has everything changed?”, others

complain. We all experienced change this month.

Fortunately, change can be a catalyst for growth. We

emerge from September adjusted to remote learning,

in-person learning, new school schedules and school

guidelines. You may have experienced changes in your

health, family life, and work life that you have worked

through or overcome. I am grateful for parents and staff

who reached out to advocate for themselves, each other

and their students as we navigated these times

together. I am also grateful for your support and kind

words.

Here is a quick summary of information I hope is

helpful:

1) October 15th immunizations and physicals are due for

6th graders, new and transfer students.

2) Check out these guidelines from IDPH for exclusion

guidance: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IDPH-

COVID19-Exclusion-Decison-Tree.pdf

3) Remember to self-certify each morning and wear your

bracelet.

4) If your student has a medical concern, contact me so

we can create a health care plan.

5) Vision and Hearing screenings will start soon and in

accordance with IDPH guidelines.

6) For those of you interested in getting a flu shot this

year, they are available at local doctor offices and

pharmacies.

October will probably bring more change to our lives, I

hope it also brings you room to grow.

Join the Library Litwits book discussion

group! We discuss a different 2021 Caudill

nominee each month--join tday and be

qualified to vote in February!

We are still offering curbside (well, door 19

& front door) contact-less pick-up and the

opportunity to schedule a time to visit the

library for anyone who is interested.

Contact Mrs. Raynes @815-469-4474 or

[email protected] for more info. You

can also contact me on TEAMS.

Congratulations to Kaitlyn & Emily Skopek

for reading all twenty 2021 Caudills before

school even started! Way to go, girls!

FROM OUR LIBRARY

https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IDPH-COVID19-Exclusion-Decison-Tree.pdf

https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IDPH-COVID19-Exclusion-Decison-Tree.pdf


Student Life……

Chorus: Our Varsity Chorus, Advanced Choir and Show Choir are all organized

and rehearsing! Our groups have been meeting after school outside and working

on a variety of warm-ups and new pieces. We're starting to plan performances in

the near future!

Band/Orchestra: Band and Orchestra are up and running! Students have been

attending their sectionals (both online and in-person), and after-school rehearsals

are going strong. Students are already posting their online performances, such as

this superb presentation of The Star-Spangled Banner:

https://safeyoutube.net/w/eqmbb

Keep your eyes on the Instrumental Music rehearsal calendar. It should be your

first stop as we navigate the schedule together!

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=157cinstrumentalmusic@

gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago&pli=1

https://safeyoutube.net/w/eqmbb

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/Chicago&pli=1

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/Chicago&pli=1


National Junior Honor Society: The NJHS officers and advisers met in

September to discuss their roles this year. The officers helped put together goody

bags for new students to HCMS. They helped brainstorm ideas of what else we

could go into the bags. We discussed upcoming dates and how our meetings will

run beginning in October. We are very excited to begin our year.

Athletics: Cross Country will be finishing their season with the IESA Sectional

meet on Wednesday, October 14th at Morris JHS. Hickory Creek will have 20

athletes representing our school (10 boys and 10 girls). Best of luck to all of the

runners!

We will be exploring the opportunity to offer all other traditional fall and winter

sports in early January.

Congratulations to our

Regional Champions at Hickory Creek Middle School!!

Varsity Boys’ Baseball Varsity Girls’ Softball

Varsity Girls’ Softball

Our first Executive Board meeting with officers and advisers will be October

16th from 2:15 - 2:45. The officers will create the agenda for our first

member meeting and discuss what needs to be shared out from each

officer. The first member meeting will be the week of October 19th. The

days are TBD. We will split the meetings into 1 day for 8th and 1 day for

7th. More information to come!!


October Calendar

October 2nd – SEL Friday schedule

October 9th – No School – Institute Day

October 12th – No School – Holiday

October 15th – Immunization records final due date

October 16th – SEL Friday schedule

October 30th – SEL Friday schedule and end of Quarter 1

Block Schedule Calendar for Science, Social Studies, Encore and PE

“A “Days = 1st Hour class, 3rd Hour class, 5th/6th Hour class, 8th Hour class

“B” Days = 2nd Hour class, 4th Hour class, 7th Hour class, 9th Hour class.

Date A or B Day Schedule Date A or B Schedule

October 1st B October 19th B

October 2nd A (SEL Friday schedule)

October 20th A

October 5th B October 21st B

October 6th A October 22nd A

October 7th B October 23rd B

October 8th A October 26th A

October 9th No School October 27th B

October 12th No School October 28th A

October 13th B October 29th B

October 14th A October 30th A (SEL Friday schedule)

October 15th B

October 16th A (SEL Friday schedule)


Congratulations to the Hickory Creek Middle School

Students/Athletes of the Month.

Team Students being recognized for showing great

Enthusiasm

6B Caroline Pardue

7A Rami Hussein

7B Tiag Hertsberg

8A Jayden Randle

8B Kaitlyn Skopek

Encore Andrew Castillo

PE Natalie Sambo

Athlete Students of the Month

Sam Jarosik 8th Varsity Softball

Ellie Feigl 8th Cross Country

Colin Bettenhausen 6th Golf

Sarina Nayden 8th Golf

Brett Gentry 7th JV Softball

Charlie Cosich 8th Varsity Baseball

Nathan Schroers 6th Cross Country

Tyler Rea 7th JV Baseball